Going back to 1802

As gleaming new towers continue to rise in what must be one of the world's greatest land reclamation and urban regeneration projects, it is entirely appropriate that a museum celebrating the Docklands' rich past should play its own part in the realisation of Thatcher's vision for a New London.

Trading places with the dockers and sea merchants who once occupied these now Grade I listed warehouses, London's newest attraction, the Museum In Docklands, was opened by the Queen a few weeks ago. And with it came a cleverly designed shiny new bar and restaurant operation, which is both an integral part of the museum and has a stand-alone identity with its own entrance from the sweeping sun terrace out front.

I've never been convinced about the wisdom of using numbers in a name, as numbers do not lodge in the memory unless we can attach a relevance to them. In this case 1802 refers to the year these warehouses were built, which in Canary Wharf years is positively prehistoric.

If you look behind this late-20th century testament to town planning however, the flaws are there to be seen. Where do you go to buy a bag of nails or a pair of pillowcases? And in terms of the food and drink offerings, you're pretty much stuffed unless you opt for one of the high street brands that seem to have a stranglehold on the area.

I will concede that the catering company Searcy's, who operate 1802, might also be considered to be a brand. But their idea of branding seems consistently to be a quality offering, high levels of customer service, and reflecting the needs of the immediate communities they serve.

Branding doesn't have to mean that you get the same food, drink and environment in London that you will also find in darkest Wolverhampton.

1802 offers a truly comprehensive drinks list in this all-day drinking (and eat when you like) venue. Six draught beers include Kirin, Amstel and Hoegaarden (£2.80-£3.50 per pint), and they stock a staggering 13 different bottled beers which include the delights of Brinkoff, Boags, Budwar, Pilsner Urquell and Schneiderweiss (from £2.80).

They have a limited number of cocktails - 12 or so, but it's always better to do fewer well rather overstretch the skills of the staff. My Cosmopolitan (£6.50) was fresh, and nicely balanced, and a Mojito (£6) would have been perfect had it not been served in a Knickerbocker Glory glass, which restricted access to the alcohol. An erudite wine list (all by the glass; bottles from £11.95) completes this fine drinks selection.

The food is pitched at a higher level than most of 1802's moribund neighbours. I had a near perfect starter dish of smoked black pudding on a bed of pancetta and baby spinach salad (£6.95). Sadly, the poached egg was too close to raw for comfort. Mains include a chicken caesar salad (£8.96), poached Scottish salmon (served cold) with new potatoes and caviar crème fraiche (£10.95). If you do order the cod and chips (£11.95), as I did, you should ask for an adult-sized portion of mushy peas (a teaspoonful is served as standard), and for the deep-fried chips to be replaced with their own hand-cut chips.

Despite a few small gripes, which could be put down to its infant days of operation, 1802 towers above the rest of the bar operations on Canary Wharf.